Shale retort



W. A. LAMB SHALE RE'IORT Filed Dec. 6. 1920 I INVENTOR. W ALA/vs.

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A.- A. LAMB SHALE RETORT Filed Dec. 6, 1920 s shame-show 5 INVENTOR. MAL/1M5.

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WZLLIAH A... E, OF BREWER, CD iii! MSIG'NOR F 1;? i.

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To aZZ whom it'mag/ coiwern: Be it known that I, Wmaanr A. LAMB, a

citizen of the United States, residing Denver, in the county of Denver and ate of Gol'orado, have invented ccrtain new and useful .i'inprovcments an Shale Retorts, of-

which tho following is a specification.

' Thisinvcntion r-elaites to shale retorts and its; particular ob'ect' is to provide a retort of simplc and c cicnt construction particulsrly adapted to efiect the vaporization of the volatile constituents of shales, coals and;

kindred substances, mainly for the purpose of extracting therefrom the different 011s 'vati t 10, one of which contains a grate 12 for the to sup art of :fuel, and the other of which connec s with a stack 13 for the escape of smoke and other products of combustion. A. valvecontrolled nozzle 14, projecting into the fire compartment 9, is connected to a conduit 15 6 for th injection of powderedshale by the force of compressed air or-other impelling agents and one or more doors 16 in the front of the furnace, afi'ord access to the fire when is h as those used in the operation of inter- ,it is desired to replenish the-sameby the use 70 nal combustion engines in the roduction of aniline dyes, asphaltum and 0t er bases.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retort of this character in which the material is subjected to agitative and irc ellent actions in a continuous operation. 5 till furthcr objects are to provide in a retort oi the above-mentioned typ, means for feeding to the combustion chamber thereof the solid residue of the vaporizing process and to supply the'same with powdered shale for:

heating purposes, and still other objects is side in details of construction and novel arrangements and combinations of parts, all of which will appear in the course of the 'following description.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of WhlCll like parts are similarly designated, 4

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved retort, part of the heating chamher having been broken. away for the pun:

pose of saving space;

Figure 2, a vertical longitudinal section through the retort;

Figure 3, a front elevation of half of the retort, looking in the direction of the arrow A, Figure 1;

Figure 4, an enlarged fragmentary sec- 2; and

Figure 5, a fragmentary section similar to that shown in Figure 2, showing a modified construction of the heated floor of the va porizing chamber, upon which the material under treatment is supported.

Referring in detail to the drawings, thereference character 2 designates a structure made up of fire brick or other non-conductive and heat resisting material, which is divided by a longitudinally inclined fioor5 I of other fuel.

The floor of the vaporizing chamber has a serics of transversely extending, troughlike depressions 17, divided by ridges 18 of rounded form. In these 'ments 19 which, in the process of vap'orization, function to stir the material under treatment andadvance it-successivoly from one trough toanother throughout the series. W

of the troughs in which the elements are disposed.

The impelling members consist, in their pre erred form, of blades 24, whichslan't in the direction of the rotation of the elements to advance the material to the succeeding trough without lifting the same to a detrimental cxtent from the heated surface of the retort, and the agitating members consist of blades 25 which are toothed at their outer edges to plow through the material for We the thorough division and intermixture of the particles of which it is composed.

The recesses in the walls of the structure in which the boxes are mounted are closed by upwardly moving slidedoors26 which,

when opened, aflord accessto the parts of the mechanism for their lubrication, adjustment and repair. The floor 5 ispreferably made of cast iron in adjoining sections which at their ends are set into the sidc Us troughs are disis Posed rotary ag1tat1ng and impelling ele- Connectcd between the disks @5 oleic constituents.

- The raw material is fed into the vaporizing chamber at the upper end of its inclined floor through a ho per 30, provided with a suitably constructed gate 31, and the residue of the vaporizing process is discharged from the chamber at the opposite end of the floor, through an opening 32 in the front wall of the structure, connecting with an externally arranged hopper 33.

The hopper has an outlet port 34.- in communication with a cylindrical'valve housing 35 which, in its bottom portion, hasa second similarly formed port 36, which connects "with a chute 37, passing through an opening in the front wall of the furnace into the hire compartment of the combustion chamber of the same. A hollow cylindrical "valve 38, rotatably fitted in the housing, has in its circumferential wall a port 39, adapted to register successively with the ports 3% and 36 whereby to alternately receive the contents of the hopper and deliver it into the chute.

it will be seen that the valve thus constructed and arranged provides a medium for the continuous discharge of the residue from the floor of the vaporizingchamber while the latter is sealed against the escape of gases.

The agitating and impelling elements and the rotary valve are connected for synchronous rotation in the same direction by an operating mechanism preferably com posed of a power shaft 40, mounted in bearat the rear end of the structure. a line shaft 4L1 supported in boxes at a side of the samoand connected with the power shaft through the medium of a pair of miter gears 42 and 43, pairs of cooperating bcveled gear wheels, the members 4A and 45 of which are respectively mounted on a line shaft, and at the protruding ends ofthc shafts 21 of the elements 19 and a transmi sion chain lG, trained over sprocket wheels 47 and 48 Which are connected with the shaft of the last element of the series at the lows. end of the floor of the vaporizing chamber and with the. shaft of the rotary valve 38.

In the operation of the retort, the shale or other material fed in a finely divided condition from the hopper 30 onto the floor of the vaporizing chamber falls into the chamber having a heated first trough of the series, whence it is moved into the next succeeding trough by the :impolling action of the blades 2% on the cours spending rotary element. The material 1s in this mannermoved successively from one peatedlyretarded at those points oi the floor at which they are most subjected to the vaporizing heat. The impelling blades of the rotary elements not only cause the material to be advanced from one trough to another butalso scrape the bottom surfaces of the troughs so as to prevent the adherence of viscous matter and both the impellent members andthe agitating members prevent solidification of the material and effeet a continuous separation of the particles thereof to admit of a free circulation of the heat and thereby expedite the complete 1 gasification of their volatile constituents.

The residue of the process is, as before, fed into the combustion chamber of the furnace to be used as fuel and after its combustible matter has been consumed it is removed from the furnace and treated for the manufacture of fertilizing s..ostances, paint bases. etc. The vapors generated in the retort escape through the chimneys into the flue 30 and, as mentioned hereinbefore, are subsequently condensed for the recovery of their olcic constituents. v

llaving thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters- Patent is:

1. In a retort of the character described, a vaporizing: chamber having recessed. side walls and a floor bctweenthem, rotary inipelling and agitating elements above said floor, boxes in said recesses, supporting said elements, doors closing the recesses, and mechanism exteriorly of the chamber for the rotation of the elements.

2. A retort comprising a vaporizing: chamber having a heated floor provided with transverse depressions, and rotary ele ments in said chamber, each having alternate series of radiating blades to engage with material in said depression, the blades of one series being toothed at their peripheral edges for the agitation of the material, and the blades of the other series being smooth-edged to impel the same across edge of the depressions.

3. A retort comprising ,vaporizi floor provided Kim with transverse depressions, and'rotary elemeats in said chamber, each having alternately disposed to nate series of radiating blades to engage with material in said depressions, the blades of one series being toothed at their peripheral edges for the agitation of the material, and the blades of the other series being slanted to impel the same across an edge 'of the depressions. I

4. A retort comprising a vaporizing chamber having a heated floor provided with a transverse depression, and an element in said chamber mounted to rotate about an axis longitudinal of'said depression, and comprising longitudinally extending agitating blades and ,impelling blades separately and successively engage with material in the depression. r

5. A; retort comprisin a vaporizing chamber having it heats floor provid with a succession of transverse troughs, and a rotary element in eachtrough, including an agitating member and a member adapt ed to cause agitated material to leave the trough and advance to the next following trough.

. 6. A retort comprising a vaporizing chamber having a heated floor provided with a succession of transverse troughs,and a rota element in each trough, including a mem r adapted to agitate material in the trough in the direction of the length thereof, and a member adapted to cause the agitated material to leave the trough and advance to the next following trough.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

WILLIAM A. LAMB. 

